Jobless benefit plan could aid 6,000 Nevadans

Up to 6,000 jobless Nevadans could benefit in the next five months from a U.S. Senate-approved plan to continue offering 13 weeks of federal jobless benefits to people who have exhausted typical 26-week state benefits.

About 300 unemployed people use up their state benefits each week, according to the Nevada Division of Employment Security.

Assuming those people didn’t get jobs, as many as 6,000 additional people could get federal benefits between now and May, when the congressional offer expires.

Congress is mulling the renewal of the federal jobless benefit because it expired Dec. 28, so people who exhausted state benefits after that date wouldn’t qualify unless Congress approves the extension.

Nevada currently has 33,000 people drawing state unemployment benefits, compared with 42,000 last year.